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Central, TX
US
Edited Date/Time
5/22/2014 1:39am
This horse has the right stuff, big red Chestnut just like Secretariat, but with lots of chrome. Just wonder if he can hold out for the 1.5 miles. Especially is another fresh horse in the line-up steps up the pace too early like Social Inclusion did. Their jokey knows his shit, he is great with position strategy.
The Shop
I was a high school freshman. On a RM125. Oh yeah, you didn't ask for that info....
The owners turned down an offer of $6Mil for 51% of the horse before he won the Kentucky Derby, I wonder what the horse is worth now????
But if they were to sell it, now would be the perfect time to sell $$$$$
I sure hope it can win it.
If he gets outta the gate good then he's got as good as shot as anyone has in a long time.
I'm digging the whole DAP (Dumb Ass People)Racing and the logo with the donkey on the back of the jockey is PRICELESS! :-)
I'm sure a movie will be in the works.
Don't know what it is but I dig Horse movies....
Its just a nasal opening dealio, similar to what some people use.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/horseracing/2014/05/19/california-…
https://youtu.be/_iFG9isQpzs
Pit Row
An up-and-coming 1-year-old filly sold for $9 million last year. Stud fees for an upper-echelon colt can cost $150,000 per breeding session. Even the drinks are expensive. Top-shelf mint juleps at Saturday's Kentucky Derby cost $1,000 (rainwater from the island of Tasmania, Australia, was imported for ice).
If you don't have endless pockets full of money, it's not the sport for you. Unless you're Steve Coburn.
Coburn, a 60-year-old who has lived in Topaz Lake for nearly two decades, isn't rich. He wakes up every day at 4:30 a.m. at his manufactured home in Douglas County and heads to work at the 13-employee JCP Enterprises in Gardnerville. While at work, he operates a press that makes magnetic strips for credit cards, driver licenses, military IDs and hotel keys.
Coburn, an Army vet, wears a big cowboy hat, but he didn't know how to read a horse racing form until he was in his 40s. He's the furthest thing from a horse racing blue bood. But when 20 horses line up for Saturday's Kentucky Derby, the world's most famous horse race, Coburn will be in attendance to watch the favorite, California Chrome — Coburn's miracle horse borne out of a series of very fortunate events.
"He's the workingman's horse," Coburn said this week before leaving for Louisville. "Everybody who's had to struggle once in awhile or had something bad happen in their life, they appreciate him more than those people who have pockets so deep they have no problem throwing money away."
The story begins five years ago when Coburn, convinced the government was taking too much of his money, went looking for a tax break. He wanted to buy an airplane and write it off, but that's a $250,000 venture. So, he and his wife, Carolyn, took a more cautious approach: They'd buy a horse.
In 2008, the Coburns became part of a 15-partner syndicate for a small filly named Love the Chase. They put down $3,900 for a 5 percent stake. But after Love the Chase flopped as a thoroughbred, the partners wanted to cut their losses and offered the horse to Coburn for $8,000. One other partner — Perry and Denise Martin, from Yuba City, Calif. — was interested, too, so they bought the horse together having never met.
When the new partners finally met, to sign ownership papers, they had to come up with a race name. They opted for DAP Racing, short for "Dumb Ass Partners," which stemmed their first meeting.
"Somebody at the barn told us, 'You guys are dumb asses if you get in the game and race this horse,'" Coburn said with a chuckle. "Perry looked at me and said, 'I guess we're real dumb asses, partner.'"
They've proven to be anything but that. After retiring Love the Chase, they decided to breed her with a 10-year-old stallion named Lucky Pulpit. The stud fee was $2,000. The resulting foal was California Chrome, a horse worth at least $6 million (that's the offer Coburn said he recently turned down).
The Coburns didn't get into the horse business to win the Kentucky Derby. They did it mostly for the tax write-off, but also as a bonding experience. Steve and Carolyn both love horses. But once California Chrome was born, Steve Coburn knew it was a special horse. In fact, he knew it before Chrome was born.
"I had a dream three weeks prior and I saw him in my dream and he looked just like my dream when he was born," Coburn said. "Carolyn looked at me and said, 'There's your dream.' I looked at her and said, 'No matter what it takes, whatever we have to do, we're going to stay in this game because this little guy is going to do big things.' I didn't know it'd be this big, but I had that inner feeling he was special."
Coburn remembers crouching in the stall the day after California Chrome was born. He fed Chrome animal horse crackers when he was 3 months old. He noticed how curious and people-friendly Chrome was. He saw how smart Chrome was and how quickly he learned and wanted to please people.
When the horse began working out at Harris Ranch in Coalinga, Calif., when he was 18 months old, everybody started to see what Coburn already knew: This was a special horse.
"He stood out from all the other colts," Coburn said. "Once he started, his trainer, Per Antonsen, told me, 'I don't say this often, but if you put this horse in the right place, you're going to have a fun ride.'"
And what a ride it's been.
California Chrome has won six of his 10 races. With new jockey, Victor Espinoza, Chrome is a perfect 4-for-4, winning the races by a combined 24¼ lengths, the equivalent of a three-touchdown blowout in football. Chrome is aiming to be the first California horse to win the Derby since 1962.
He's already changed the Coburns' lives. Going to the Kentucky Derby was a bucket list item. They wanted to go as fans. Now, they go with the Derby favorite, California Chrome a big 5-2 betting favorite who is already drawing talk of a potential Triple Crown, which hasn't been accomplished since 1978.
That's why when Coburn and Martin were offered $6 million for their horse, they turned it down, calling it a "slap in the face" because the offer came from "somebody who's never even put on a pair of boots to go to work in the morning." California Chrome is a workman's horse. He's going to stay that way.
"He's like a dream come true," Coburn said. "Some people go all their life trying to find a horse that can make it to the Kentucky Derby and we did it with our first horse. Living in Nevada, an odds-making state, I don't know what the odds are of that happen are — maybe one in a trillion?"
On Saturday, Coburn will definitely be celebrating one thing: He turns 61. He'd like to be celebrating a second thing: A Kentucky Derby win by California Chrome, the most unlikely of horses.
"That'd be the greatest birthday present ever," Coburn said.
Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at cmurray@rgj.com or follow him on Twitter @MurrayRGJ.
KENTUCKY DERBY
WHAT: First leg of the Triple Crown
WHEN: Post time is 3:32 p.m. Saturday
TV: NBC, coverage starts at 1 p.m.
PURSE: $2.2 million
FAVORITE: California Chrome is the 5-2 favorite
LOCAL CONNECTION: California Chrome is a co-owned by Topaz Lake's Steve Coburn
DID YOU KNOW? California Chrome's name was chosen by Steve Coburn. The three alternative names tossed around were: Lucky at Love; Big Chapter; and Seabisquik
http://www.rgj.com/story/sports/2014/05/01/murray-local-owner-takes-derby-favorite-wild-ride/8590607/
RENO, Nev. (MyNews4.com & KRNV) -- California Chrome owner Steve Coburn has much deeper pockets than he did one month ago. Coburn and the horse’s co-owner are raking in over $2.5 million dollars in Kentucky Derby winnings alone.
The Topaz Lake man also made a $1,000 Kentucky Derby bet on his colt in January, when California Chrome's odds were 200-1.
"I know our checking accounts are a little bit better than what it used to be and so is our savings account," said Coburn. "As far as changing me, no. When we leave here this Tuesday after the Preakness, we are flying home and I’ll go back to work."
Coburn already returned to work between traveling to Louisville and Baltimore.
The nation’s most famous thoroughbred's co-owner is one of 13 employees manufacturing magnet strips for credit cards and hotel room keys at JCP Enterprises in Gardnerville.
"I’ve got a responsibility to the people that hired me and I am going to fulfill my responsibilities," said Coburn. "That’s what I do, that’s what I am. I’m just an everyday guy and I am just blessed that this is happening to me and my partner."
California Chrome is Coburn's first run at thoroughbred racing after a life with working horses on cattle ranches. "It gives incentive to every other little guy out there that, you know what, if you pursue your dream the dream can be fulfilled as long as you are willing to stay in it and work hard at it. That’s all I can say, we’ve just been blessed with this colt."
Coburn can be the first owner to win the Triple Crown in 36 years. Once the ride is over, however, it’s back to work. "I’m only 61 and I need insurance," laughed Coburn. "I’d go back to work because I love my job."
Coburn said he could work at the Gardnerville company for ten more years, but plans to get his old pick-up truck a new paint job, thanks to his recent winnings.
http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/story/California-Chrome-Co-owner-stays-humble-through/Hm0ITZZOOEu45mTAVx_Lyw.cspx
Theres a vid-clip of Chrome having a look at the big track on the Net now.
https://youtu.be/eyznTGsqmt8
This horse sure reminds me of the big Bay horse we have. (ours is the same size as Chrome) And what I mean is his seemingly positive outlook and demeanor. You can see it in his eyes. My wife used to be an exercise jockey at Sam Houston Race Park and saw first hand what is done behind the scenes to get these horses to go fast, and much of the time these running horses are "washed out". Mentally chickenfried from being pushed too hard, too fast, and too early. (and they WILL hurt you if you dont keep on your toes). This horse Chrome, he comes across as what I call an "eager earner". Meaning it seems he was trained to run without abuse, and he hasnt been beat into doing his job. You can make a washed-out horse go fast, but theres no heart there, the animal is only doing what he feels he must , just plodding thru another race. An eager earner will give you all it has because he hasnt had the heart beat out of 'em. (for lack of better word). I cant remember if it was Penny Chenery or Ron Turcotte who said Secretariat would explode his heart running if you asked him to. And at the Belmont of '73 he showed what he was made of. He was gone and still pulling away from the pack when he crossed the wire.
I know the odds are against one horse winning all three races, but I sure wish Chrome could take the Crown.
If I wasn't allergic to horses there is no way there'd be a dirt bike in my garage...I'd be a horse guy. I love horses...always have...I just wish their was a cure for allergies.
I'm with you Racer...I hope he takes the crown.
Never cared much for snobby type folks anyway and would much prefer a kegger party then to hob-non with the rich and famous.
This is a GOOD thread.
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